by Amber Malloy
“We tried to get here sooner,” Remy shrugged, “but you know how evil whores have no patience.”
Lexi took a sip of wine as the women laughed at the truth. Evil waits for no one. Tired of the fight for her company that no longer seemed worth it, Lexi swiped at a wayward tear that managed to escape from her eyes. She’d promised herself that she wouldn’t cry, but Josh’s body blows had finally taken a toll on her.
He had continually knocked her down. Every time she’d gotten up, a little piece of her had gotten lost somewhere in the cracks of the pavement. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Josh was out to destroy her.
“It’s not your job to save me.” She took a huge gulp of wine and felt that getting shitfaced drunk was on tonight’s menu.
“But we’ve gotten so good at it,” Lashonda cooed. Lexi chuckled.
It was true. She’d come to rely on these women in such a short amount of time, and she honestly didn’t know how to repay them.
“Don’t worry, honey. If the calvary hadn’t arrived in time, we would have stepped in,” Bronwyn told her. “I’m a hockey wife on the Southern White Tails’ team, and this one right here is my best friend.” She tipped her head in Tanya’s direction.
“Also, she’s a WWE championship winner,” Tanya added.
Lexi narrowed her eyes to slits. Already embarrassed enough for one day, she didn’t want to come off like a complete idiot, but she had no idea what WWE stood for.
“Wrestling,” Bronwyn explained. “I beat grown men and women’s asses for a living.”
“Sexy,” Lexi said with appreciation. As everyone laughed, she reached for the bottle of wine. “Are we good on this one?”
“Yeah, we can open another,” Dahl called from the kitchen.
“Cool.” Lexi tipped the bottle to her lips and dropped her head back, hoping to forget the last year of her life.
* * * *
Snow blanketed the mountains, already packing on more inches. Shoving the thick flakes from his hair, Hawk opened the door to the cabin, allowing the glow from the snow to guide him into the house.
Lexi sat with her legs hugged against her chest on the window seat. In these off moments, Lexi’s vulnerability flashed louder than a neon sign. If he could demand she confide in him, he would. At the least, he’d have her tell him what was the cause of her pain that glazed over her pretty brown eyes when she thought no one was around to see it. However, women like Lexi didn’t open up easily…if at all.
Drawn to the beautifully sad woman, he dumped his jacket on the seat. One by one he stripped off all the normal trappings of an office drone and made his way to her. There wasn’t that much space for his big ass on the small window bench, but he managed to balance his left cheek on the edge fairly well. Wrapping his arms around her, he brought Lexi into his chest. He traced the elegant line of her neck up to her hair and took in the vanilla, coconut and pineapple that invaded his senses. Yes, his dick had a pathetic mind of its own, and maybe one day he would be able to control it, but the fruity scent of her hair drove him crazy.
“Want to talk about it?” he asked.
After all the kids had been put down to sleep, the wives had strolled into the family cabin. More than a smidge drunk, they had danced around singing DeBarge’s I Like It.
Sadly, the only sober woman in the group—and against her will, he might add—had strongly insinuated that he check on his no-strings-attached friend. Always direct, he knew something was up from Remy’s stern mom-tone.
“Not particularly.” Lexi leaned back into him, snuggling closer. Disappointed but not surprised in her answer, he concentrated on the soft feel of her body against his. Down, dick, down. Always teenage-boy horny in her presence, he tried to think of something that would force his hard-on to soften.
“But you should get comfortable,” she told him. “This story is going to take a minute to tell.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Biggie Burger Convention Center buzzed with hockey fans. Ushered backstage for the Sports News town hall, Hawk attempted to loosen the knot of tension that tightened his neck and pulsated between his ears. Once again stuck in a well-tailored but super uncomfortable suit, he followed the PA backstage.
Around the age of ten, the nuns had stamped that ‘out of control’ label no kid wanted right on his forehead. The beginning of adolescence had been a bitch for him, and those divine wives of the Lord didn’t want to deal with him anymore. Who knew what would have happened if he hadn’t met Knox. Apparently, his rage had been out of control to the point where the nuns had been thinking of alternative housing options for him.
In more ways than one, hockey had taught him how to hone his anger. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those moments.
Last night Lexi had spun him a wild tale of genius, thievery and intrigue. At the end of it, he’d not only wanted to beat her ex to a bloody pulp, he’d also wanted to injure a couple of his teammates to boot. Feeling responsible for putting her in a shitty situation, he needed a spiritual release. Hawk hated the fact that he was the cause of any of her pain.
“From the scowl on your face, I don’t know if this crap is a good idea or not.” Marco stepped in line with him, slapping him on the shoulder.
Hawk grunted. At some point he would get his shit together, but at the moment nothing but red flashed before his eyes.
“Hey, man, can we talk?” Sven hurried to catch up with them.
“Not a good time,” he replied. Hawk didn’t want to sit through some fake apology. He wanted to knock the kid’s head off in an effort to release some of his pent-up tension. However, at some point he would have to adult this one out.
Each team had their top players on stage for a fan Q and A. Since the Northern Royals were the champions, they would go on last.
“Look… I know we’ve had our differences,” Sven said, “but I didn’t know anything about that crap Brandi pulled. She admitted the whole thing to me, and—”
Hawk held up his hand to stop the idiot’s blathering. While they waited to go on the stage, the audio people mic’d them up. Once he was through with the next hour of smiling and nodding, then he’d tell the little shit what he thought of his fiancée’s stupid ass.
“Sorry,” he pathetically muttered.
“Hey, hey, hey, what do we have here?” Players from the Texas Wigeons stepped in behind them.
“The team most likely to fall apart.” One of the Wigeons giggled with childish glee.
“Up next,” the sports announcer called. “The second-best team in the league, the Texas Wigeons.”
The three clowns slid in between them.
“Let me know when you’re done with that porn star, Hawthorne. I’d like a go at her.”
Hawk took a step forward, but Sven jumped in front of him.
“Move,” he grunted through clenched teeth.
“This is my fault,” Sven admitted. “I’ve got this.”
“And the team you’ve been waiting for…” the announcer geeked up the audience. “The Noo-orthern Roo-oyals!”
Screams from the crowd practically rumbled the roof off the center. Sven headed up their trio as they entered the stage. The announcer offered his hand to shake, but Sven drew back and knocked the shit out of the Texas Wigeons’ captain. A shocked silence fell over the room.
“Well, fuck,” Marco drawled, his southern roots spilling out. “Didn’t know the Swede had it in him.” No matter what they felt about Sven, there was no way they would sit back and watch their biggest competitors tear him apart.
Happy to have an outlet for all his rage, Hawk stretched the muscles in his neck and charged into the middle of the frenzy. Sinking his fist into one of the Wigeons’ center’s faces, he released all the frustration he’d held in since the past night.
* * * *
Opting out of anything to do with the hockey wives, Lexi decided to spend the next week with the football wives instead. The most taxing thing they’d planned was shopping and, later on,
more shopping. She hadn’t had any downtime since she’d taken over the bar, and this was the closet she’d gotten to a vacation in years.
Prattling around the cabin in an old tank that barely covered her breasts and teeny tiny underwear, she waited for Hawk to return from his latest marketing session. She tiptoed to the refrigerator and snatched a spoon off the dish rack.
As she pulled open the freezer, she heard the front door. Soon after, heavy footsteps followed. Grabbing the mint chocolate chip ice cream, she sank her spoon into the creamy treat.
“That was quick. I thought it would at least be a couple of—” Lexi stuck the spoon in her mouth, while she elbowed the freezer door shut. The sexy hockey player strutted into the cabin a hot damn mess. “Oh fudge,” she mumbled over the mouthful of mint.
Lexi counted one black eye, a bruised cheek and a shredded tie. Hawk dabbed at his busted lip.
“It was just a bit of a thing,” he told her.
“Tell me this thing wasn’t about last night, was it?” Lexi reluctantly set back down her ice cream quart and went back into the freezer for ice.
Hawk peered at her through his long, loose curls that hung over his face before he swiped his hair away. In one quick motion, she snagged the dish towel from the oven’s handle and rolled the cubes of ice in it.
“Sweetie, it’s hockey,” he said. “We fight over everything.”
“Which means what?” She stepped to the towering man of muscle. Dressed to the nines when he’d walked out the door that afternoon, blood and rips decorated his designer suit.
“We don’t need ammunition.” Lexi gently placed the towel to his eye. “Jeesh,” he hissed, but didn’t move away from her touch.
“If”—she stepped closer to him, allowing his warm breath to caress her lips—“your dust-up was about me, I strongly insist you let this go.”
Hawk’s hazel eye twinkled under the bruises, and he lowered his lids to small slits as he put his face inches from hers. “We fight.”
“But?”
“No buts.” He kissed her lips, landing one soft peck then another, softly nibbling her upper lip. He didn’t force his touch into a more insistent contact. Instead, he gently released her. “We fight,” he murmured. “That’s what we do.” He laid his head on top of hers.
“There’s more going on than the issue with my company and that unauthorized sex video. I can’t afford for this thing to get any bigger…okay?”
A flicker of uncertainty transformed his brilliant hazel eyes to a murky brown. “Sure.” He nodded. “I get it.”
Lexi wanted to keep her SugarTech issues under wraps. Unfortunately, Josh’s lousy-ass timing had forced her hand. Still holding the towel to his eye, Lexi kissed the corner of his lips.
“Did you need something to help with your bruises?”
“Mm-m,” he groaned. Hawk picked her up and set her down on top of the kitchen counter. “I can think of a few things.”
As he inched the tips of his fingers up the underside of her shirt, she put the towel of ice down and settled into his touch.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The rest of Lexi’s vacation had gone by in a relaxing but sexed-up blur. Back to the bar sooner than she would have liked, she listened to Maureen run down a list of her supposed infractions on the phone, while she monitored the main floor from her office doorway.
Of course, she’d read SugarTech’s contract from front to back, but she let her lawyer blather on as she made sure no one needed a refill. Simone went for her lunch break, and her lawyer had picked that exact moment to randomly explain what was at stake for Lexi if the board voted her out.
One of the regulars crooned out a raspy rendition of Boom Boom that kept the small audience captivated. Remy opened the front door and jerked her head to the bar, and Lexi reluctantly nodded. She couldn’t imagine a pregnant bartender being a good look.
“Why are you bringing this up?” she huffed, finally tired of her droning voice.
“Josh is trying to convince the board to convene before May.”
“So, what’s new? He pulls this stunt every week.”
“He claims you’ve tried to hack into SugarTech’s main server… Well, did you?” Maureen pressed, when Lexi didn’t plead her innocence right away. She would have attempted to fake outrage at her lawyer’s lack of confidence, but if she were being honest with herself, she would have wondered the same thing.
“Wow, no faith. If that happened, Josh would have had the FBI, SWAT or whatever branch of the government who could arrest me at my doorstep.”
“That’s true,” Maureen muttered. “Okay, Waters, try to stay out of trouble.” Her lawyer hung up without the salutation of goodbye. Sadly, Lexi had become used to her rudeness.
Whistling to herself, she practically skipped to the bar to knock Remy out of the way.
Josh was getting nervous. If the sex video had gotten out, then Lexi would instantly be in violation of her moral clause, but if Josh got the board on his side, then he couldn’t be accused of revenge porn.
Grasping at straws, the little shit had apparently decided to come up with a lie that she’d hacked SugarTech’s server. He had no evidence and would have most likely made something up on the fly if the board agreed to convene early.
“Having fun?” she asked her fake bartender, who went to town on the cocktail shaker in her hand.
“It was either this or a toddler tumbling class.” Remy grabbed a martini glass off the back bar and poured what resembled a gimlet. Pushing the finished product to the woman who sat on the other side of the bar, she turned her attention back to Remy.
“How’s Hawk?”
“Wouldn’t Knox know that better than me?” Barely a day after Christmas he’d gone back on the road with his team. They had been texting, but he was too busy for much more than that.
“Hey, bro, are you okay, bro?” Remy lowered her voice ten octaves and put a dumb expression on her face. “I’m cool, dude. Cool, great. Cool. Okay, talk to you later. Bye.”
Despite the mood suppressant brought on by her lawyer, she chuckled at Remy’s antics. If nothing else, the woman was good for a laugh. “The coach reamed the team a new one and everyone who took part in the fight got fined.”
“No suspensions?” Remy asked.
“They weren’t on the ice, which helped the offenders avoid that particular punishment.” Leaning against the gold railing, Lexi scanned the main floor. The bar was finally pulling in a pretty decent profit. She should have felt pleased with herself, but the aching pain that she’d somehow failed at one more thing overwhelmed every part of her.
“That’s good news for Floyd Mayweather.” Remy chuckled. “Now tell me the bad news, because the look on your face…” She made a circle motion with her finger and gave the best impression of a prune Lexi had ever seen.
“Shit.” She was beyond tired of holding everything inside. Gliding her eyes over the customers in the room, she quietly debated with herself whether to spill her guts or not. “It’s a complicated, long-ass story.”
“Totally get it, but since no one’s around…” She gestured toward the empty stools in front of them. The only customer had taken her drink to sit closer to the stage. “Jesus, it’s hot in here.”
The temperature was put at a level seventy-five degrees. Lexi snorted at her complaint as Remy shrugged out of her sweater and placed it under the bar.
“Whoa, that’s better. Before you came to Chicago, I was asked to do a profile for a very popular tech company. There was lots of talk about the rise of this corporation’s handsome, mysterious owner, Josh Stewart.”
Suddenly thirsty, Lexi licked her lips and grabbed a bottle of water. “When—” Her voice cracked. “Uh, this assignment, when did you get it?”
“Last January.”
She twisted the top off her water and downed half the bottle. That had been the month Josh had unexpectedly sprung divorce papers on her.
“A lot was coming out about how SugarTech was
making waves in the industry. Josh was a regular boy wonder. No one knew anything about his private life or how he came up with so many of the apps the firm was producing.”
Lexi nodded her head in agreement, since that was exactly the way he’d wanted it. Josh had claimed the anonymity would help them get a foothold in the saturated tech field.
“On the surface, Josh had the Midas touch, which definitely helped with his Machiavellian, shiny polish. The media hadn’t delved too deep into the company financials or his personal life because SugarTech was on the rise with an impeccable record.”
Listening for any unspoken judgment, she didn’t detect any type of malice on Remy’s part. Nevertheless, angry energy rumbled in Lexi’s gut. She nervously tapped her nail across the top of the bar’s surface. At the time, she hadn’t known what changed in their relationship, but they’d been more distant than ever. Their intense work schedule could have taken some of the blame for their lack of intimacy, but in hindsight, her ex had been a shitty husband.
“Josh owns twenty percent of SugarTech, the board thirty, and a single investor named L.L. Corp owns a whooping fifty percent. Had anyone dug deep enough, they would have uncovered that Lexington Langley Waters owned L.L. Corp and was married to one Josh Stewart in his hometown of Dearborn, Connecticut.”
Feeling more than foolish, Lexi nodded her head in confirmation. “He’d convinced me it would be easier to appear unattached and accessible to drum up business. While I was knee-deep in coding, he became the face of SugarTech and I missed—”
“How easy it was for him to isolate you.”
Batting her eyelashes quickly, she fought to blink back the tears. “It sounds so stupid. He made it seem like he was lifting this huge weight off my shoulders. Meanwhile, he was…” Lexi shook off the depressing thought that he’d used her from the very beginning of their relationship. “The first time I went to the new office, none of the staff knew me. After the firm grew bigger and better, he moved us so far out in the valley that it became inconvenient for me to even stop by, and—”
